Entries from December 2009

December 30th, 2009 by Gladys

36th District Rep Reuven Carlyle has announced he will be hosting four coffee hours around the district on Saturday, January 9 in order to meet with community members before the start of the upcoming legislative session on Monday, January 11.

“The Legislature convenes on January 11 and we’re again facing a massive deficit of nearly $3 billion,” Carlyle said in a press release today. “It’s critical that I hear from our community directly about your views, issues, concerns and thoughts on the budget, taxes, education and other important issues. I’m asking people to reach out and share your views so I can better represent you in Olympia during these difficult times.”

The Magnolia meeting with Carlyle will be at Serendipity from 1p.m. to 2p.m. You can also catch him from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Caffé Fioré (224 W Galer St.) on Queen Anne.

December 29th, 2009 by Gladys

If you are looking for a night out for New Year’s Eve but want to stay close to home, two Magnolia Village restaurants will be open for dinner with some special additions to their menus.

Lauren and Corino at Mondello Ristorante wrote to let us know that they are planning specials in addition to their regular menu. The New Year’s menu includes duck salad with am arena cherries & goat cheese over mixed greens, seafood cannelloni with Dungeness crab, bay shrimp, bay scallops, spinach and bechamel, Dijon-crusted rack of lamb, served with mushroom risotto and festive cheesecake.

Julie tells us that Chef Ludger has created a Celebration Dinner at Szmania’s for those who want to bid adieu to 2009 in elegant style or quiet romance. The menu includes Beef Wellington, grilled Colossal Prawns, Rack of Lamb, roasted Pheasant, in a la carte style with Bananas Foster and Chocolate Molten Lava Cake for desert. Reservations start at 5:30p.m.

If you want a more casual party, Szmania’s is also having a Fondue & Bubbles Party with a split of Champagne, two appetizer choices and a selection of special Fondues for $50 per couple. Reservations starting at 7 p.m.

If other restaurants in Magnolia have special events planned for New Year’s Eve, be sure to let everyone know in comments.

December 27th, 2009 by Gladys

We don’t want to put an end to your holiday celebrations but if your tree is ready to move on, there is an easy way to say goodbye. If you subscribe to curbside yard waste collection, you can put your trees and greens out on their regular collection day at no extra charge starting tomorrow and running through January 10. Trees should be cut into sections of six feet long or shorter, with branches trimmed to less than four feet. Sections should be bundled with string or twine.

You can also drop off trees and greens for free at Seattle Public Utilities Station. The closest to Magnolia is at 34th Street and Carr Place North and its open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. More info here.

December 26th, 2009 by Gladys

A Magnolia resident has gotten US Bank to approve adding a mailbox to its ATM drive through at 3124 W. McGraw St. Melanie Smith has been working to obtain the new mailbox after construction forced the boxes behind the Post Office to be removed.

Pending approval by the Post Office, US Bank has agreed to put the mailbox in the bank drive through area. There are still a few hurdles before the mailbox can be installed, including the fact that a normal size mailbox will be too tall for the concrete island at the bank. The legs may have to be cut off to make it work.

The other snag is that once a new mailbox is in place, another one in the area must come down. There are eight locations considered for removal: 3054 28th Ave. W., 3655 34th Ave. W., 2809 Thorndyke Ave. W., 4223 26th Ave. W., 1897 Magnolia Blvd., 4001 Gilman Ave. W., 4019 21st Ave. W., and 3211 W. McGraw St. Smith has been petitioning the neighborhood to get an additional box in The Village for a year now. She supports removing the box in front of the Post Office on McGraw.

This mailbox was installed in the parking lot of Magnolia Park last year.

December 23rd, 2009 by Gladys

Here is information about the recent break ins in the Magnolia area from Terrie Johnston at the Seattle Police Department. She says that extra patrols have been sent to the Magnolia area in hopes of finding these thieves.

There were two residential burglaries recently in Magnolia that are worth sharing with you and your neighbors. Both of the burglaries occurred through open and unlocked doors. The burglary on 29 Ave. W. occurred early in the day through the side door that had been left unlocked for the nanny. The house was ransacked and the suspects used a stolen gym bag and white garbage bags to carry away the stolen items which included a dozen Christmas gifts. A neighbor driving by saw the suspects carrying the sacks and gym bag, but did not call 911 to report anything suspicious.

The other burglary occurred on 32 Ave. W. during late night/early morning hours while the residents most likely were sleeping. The suspect(s) entered through an unlocked side door and took wallets, keys, phone, and Christmas gifts.

A review of the reported December residential burglaries showed nine in Magnolia. All but three of the burglaries occurred during daytime hours (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) About half of the burglaries were forced entries and the other half were through open or unlocked doors, and no force was used. In several of the burglaries, the home had been ransacked by the intruders. Side windows and basement windows were the most common points of entry, many smashed with a rock.

In a handful of the crimes, neighbors saw suspicious people or vehicles in neighbors’ driveways; back yards or alleyways nearby, but failed to call 9-1-1 to report suspicious activity. Please feel free to make a 9-1-1 call to report something suspicious. It is okay if you are wrong, simply trust your gut instincts. One of the purposes of Block Watch and knowing your neighbors is to gain a sense of what is normal for your street so you can be alerted when something out of the ordinary occurs.

The police department recommends that if your house is going to be empty during the day, keep your curtains or blinds closed in rooms where electronics or other valuables can be seen from the street. Many burglars report targeting homes where they’ve seen what they wanted from the street beforehand. You can contact Johnston to schedule a Block Watch meeting, or to schedule a free home security survey. Her office number at the West Precinct is 684-4741.

December 23rd, 2009 by Geeky Swedes

Just after 3 this morning, a man woke up after hearing voices inside his home in the 2900 Block of 25th Avenue West. As he began to look around, the suspects fled with several unwrapped Christmas gifts. When officers arrived, they scoured the area with a police dog up to West Dravus St., but they said they we’re unable to find the suspects. They did find, however, Christmas gifts dumped a few yards away. The homeowner was unable to get a good look at the suspects, but investigators say they were able to identify some evidence at the scene which they’ve provided to burglary detectives.

December 21st, 2009 by Gladys

UPDATE 12/22: The thief struck again this morning at 4a.m. when the intercom was once again pried open. It appears the vandals have keys to disable elevators and they ransacked the garage and stole multiple bicycles that were U-bolted or cabled behind locked gates. One homeowner heard a pickup truck idling in the driveway but was unable to see anyone or the license plate. No word on whether any of the neighboring condo communities were affected.

The folks at the Blue Heron condominiums want to let people know about a thief who has been prying open intercoms at condominiums and gaining access into the buildings and garages. They say that someone is breaking into cars and storage lockers and stealing delivered packages.

The vandals may have a key to Aegis intercom systems. However, they also have pried open the intercom units and cut a wire from within the system’s circuit board then used that wire as a wedge in between the keypad panel and box frame to close it up so that residents don’t realize the intercom unit has been open, making it easy for them to return again in the future. This has happened twice to our building within a month, latest being early this morning at 4:15AM. We noticed our neighbor condo community has also become victim of this same issue early this morning as well.

The Blue Heron condos are located on W. Government Way near the north entrance to Discovery Park.

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